Bedstead-joint.



No. 703,333. Patented June 24; I902.

c. A. BLAKELY.

BED'STEAD JOINT.

(Appliation filed May 23, 1901.

(No Model.)

- WITNESS; I I I 3 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES ALBERT BLAKELY, OF PLANO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE F. H. EARL MANUFACTURING CO., OF PLANO, ILLINOIS.

BEDSTEAD-JOINT.

SPEClFICATIUN forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,333, dated June 24, 1902. Application filed May 23, 1901. Serial No. 61,539. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES ALBERT BLAKELY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Plano, in the county of Kendall and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BedsteadJoints, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of myinvention is to provide an improved bedstead-joint which will permit of readily interchanging and reversing the rails and which will insure rigidity of the joint. I accomplish this object by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a joint constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a section of the same along the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a section along the line 3 3. Fig. 4 shows two opposite bedposts with the connecting-rail inverted or reversed.

The device shown is constructed as follows: The bedpost or vertical frame member 1 has rigidly secured thereto a sleeve or collar 4, having the finger 5 projecting transversely and upwardly therefrom. The rail or horizontal frame member 6 is preferably made of angle-bar and has rigidly secured to its end the socket-piece 7. The socket-piece 7 has an aperture 8 therein of suitable form to receive the finger 5. The socket-piece is preferably dish-shaped and formed so as to fit the collar 4 at each side of the finger 5 and to fit the post 1 above'and below the collar 4. The walls 10 of theaperture 8 are beveled or inclined inwardly. The upper part of the finger is preferably made of such form that its transverse vertical section will be ovate or triangular. The aperture 8 is correspondingly oval or diamond shaped. The finger 5 joins the collar 4 in a neck 11, which is somewhat smaller than the body of the finger immediately adjoining said neck. The sides of the finger at said neck-are inclined inwardly similarly to the inclination or bevel of the walls of the aperture 8. It is also preferable to make the aperture 8 symmetrical about its shorter axis-that is, to make the contour of the part above the axis the same as that below the axis. This will make the joint reversible, as Will be seen by comparing Figs. 1 and 4.

The operation of my device is as follows: To connect the members 6 and 1, the finger 5 is passed through the aperture 8 and the socket-piece 7 is moved downwardly. The inclined sides of the finger 5 and of the aperture 8 will coact with wedging effect, forcing the ends 9 of the socket-piece into firm contact with the post 1 and causing the sur faces 12 and 13 to bear firmly upon the sleeve 4 at each side of the finger 5, thus making a rigid joint which can be easily disconnected when desired. If it should be desired to reverse the rail 6, so that the inwardly-projecting flange 14 shall be at the top instead of the bottom of the rail, it need simply be disconnected and reversed end for end. The socketpiece is adapted to be disengaged from the tongue by a direct upward lift, and when it is lifted the. inclined face at the lower end of the tongue engages the socket piece and thrusts it laterally, thereby automatically moving the socket-piece outward from the tongue. A The same rail may be used on either side of the bedstead, with the flange 14 in either the upper position, as shown in Fig. 1, or in the lower position, as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be understood that some of the details of the device shown may be considerably altered without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore do not confine myself to'such details, except as hereinafter limited in the claim.

tVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a bedstead-joint, the combination of a vertical frame member having an upwardlyinclined outwardly-tapered finger of approximately oval shape provided with inclined upper and lower faces and having an inclined outer face extending to the inclined face at the lower end of the finger, said finger being also provided with inwardly beveled side edges, a horizontal frame member approximately L-shaped in cross-section and having one of its sides or flanges arranged horizontally, and a socket-piece provided with a horizontal L-shaped socket to receive the horizontal member and provided with an out- Wardly-flared elliptical opening receiving the l reversed to arrange the horizontal flange of to projecting finger and fitting down behind the the horizontal frame member either at the top side edges thereof and interlocked with the or bottom, substantially as described. same and capable of being disengaged auto- Signed at Plano this 20th day of May, 1901.

5 matically from the finger when it is lifted ver- A tically, each end of the elliptical opening con- CHARLES ALBERT BLAKELY' forming'to the configuration of and adapted Witnesses: to fit against the upper end of the finger, E. L. HENNING, whereby the socket-piece is capable of being J. R. ADAMS. 

